Austin news

• ‘Dog flu’ outbreak hits Florida for the first time

  31-05-2017 23:57 via kxan.com
  
  PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Veterinarians across the Tampa Bay area are sounding the alarm about a potentially deadly “dog flu.”
  The highly-contagious virus can make your dog very sick and it can even be fatal. At the Fort De Soto Park dog beach, most pet owners had never heard of dog flu.
  Places like the park, where dogs interact socially, are a potential breeding ground for the virus. “Because if one dog gets it out here, then they all can get pretty sick and that&rs
  
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• Texas immigration lockdowns holding some families too long

  31-05-2017 23:00 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (AP) — Several families have been held in Texas immigration lockdowns far longer than federal law allows, even though state lawmakers adjourned without passing legislation to circumvent the rules.
  The proposals would have allowed the state to license the facilities as childcare providers, a requirement for anywhere housing minors longer than 20 days. Immigrant welfare advocates celebrated the failure of the bills, which they said would have caused further physical and psychological
  
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• Travis County sheriff addresses recent uptick in Del Valle homicides

  31-05-2017 22:54 via kxan.com
  
  DEL VALLE, Texas (KXAN) — Wednesday evening, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office talked about two open investigations involving the homicides of six people in Del Valle.
  The bodies of four men were found after first responders were called to a house fire on Linden Road on Sept. 8, 2016. At the time, deputies said their investigation was leading to the possibility the buying and selling of narcotics was a key factor in the events that led to the house fire.
  Just weeks later,
  
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• Open homicide investigations will be discussed at Del Valle town hall

  31-05-2017 22:54 via kxan.com
  
  DEL VALLE, Texas (KXAN) — Wednesday evening, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office will talk about two open investigations involving the homicides of six people in Del Valle.
  The bodies of four men were found after first responders were called to a house fire on Linden Road on Sept. 8, 2016. At the time, deputies said their investigation was leading to the possibility the buying and selling of narcotics was a key factor in the events that led to the house fire.
  Just weeks late
  
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• Students learning about disabilities first-hand, prevents bullying

  31-05-2017 22:28 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Up for a challenge?
  Try using a mirror to trace letters and numbers upside down, while staying within the lines.
  “It’s hard to do,” said one second grader to his teacher at Reagan Elementary in Cedar Park.
  The task is used to prove Dyslexia is hard.
  All of the school’s second graders are part of the “Kids First” program. It is a PTA-sponsored lesson that shows students how disabilities, like ADHD, mobility challenges and autism, affe
  
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• 16-year-old girl charged with stabbing her Uber driver to death

  31-05-2017 21:50 via kxan.com
  
  LINCOLNWOOD, Ill. (AP) — A 16-year-old girl was charged Wednesday as an adult with first-degree murder and accused of stabbing her Uber driver to death in suburban Chicago.
  Lincolnwood police said they responded to a report of a man screaming for help at about 3:20 a.m. Tuesday when they found Grant Nelson, 34, of Wilmette with multiple stab wounds. Nelson told them he was a driver for the ride-sharing service Uber and that his passenger stabbed him, police said. He was dropping off the gi
  
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• Missing Austin teen with medical conditions found safe

  31-05-2017 20:52 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin police have found a 15-year-old with medical conditions who went missing. Officers say he was found safe.
  Police initially said Arman Ali was last seen around 10 a.m. Wednesday, walking near his home in the 11200 block of Taylor Draper Lane in northwest Austin.
  Arman is around 5-feet-6-inches and around 165 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, black shorts and wears a lanyard around his neck containing his identifyi
  
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• South Texas legislator pleads not guilty to fraud, bribery

  31-05-2017 20:45 via kxan.com
  
  SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A South Texas legislator has pleaded not guilty to all fraud and bribery-related charges in two federal indictments.
  The San Antonio Express-News reports state Sen. Carlos Uresti pleaded not guilty Tuesday night. Uresti attorney Mikal Watts filed a motion waiving the senator’s right to appear in court, scheduled Wednesday in San Antonio.
  Uresti was present Wednesday in Austin as Gov. Greg Abbott signed laws meant to improve the Texas foster care system.
  Uresti, who
  
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• Homeland Security Chairman McCaul talks Russia, terrorism

  31-05-2017 20:32 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — In the wake of the Manchester concert terror attack and an increased threat over the summer, House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Austin, sits down with KXAN’s political reporter Phil Prazan to discuss what his committee is working on.
  Just this week, the U.S. government decided not to ban laptop computers on commercial flights. That could change depending on the risks coming in through the U.S. intelligence services. McCaul tells KXAN his committee will
  
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• The Latest: CNN cuts ties with Kathy Griffin over video

  31-05-2017 20:18 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Kathy Griffin (all times local):
  1:45 p.m.
  CNN says it has cut ties with Kathy Griffin after she posted a video that showed her holding a likeness of President Donald Trump’s severed head.
  The network says it has terminated its agreement with the comedian to appear on its New Year’s Eve programs. For a decade she had co-hosted the annual special with CNN correspondent Anderson Cooper.
  Her future with CNN had been in doubt since the video appeared
  
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• Report of missing 5-year-old boy in east Travis County deemed false

  31-05-2017 20:16 via kxan.com
  
  TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Authorities have determined that a father who reported his 5-year-old son missing Tuesday evening wasn’t telling the truth and knew he was safe the entire time.
  The Travis County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Eagles Landing Apartments in the 8000 block of Decker Lane at 7:36 p.m. and immediately began searching the area with a Department of Public Safety helicopter, a special response team and search dogs trained to find missing people.
  The chi
  
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• 2-year-old allegedly killed by father was only recently returned to parents

  31-05-2017 19:41 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Newly obtained court documents show a 2-year-old boy who authorities say died at the hands of his father, was in foster care until just a couple of months ago.
  Raymundo Silva-Salas, 23, is in jail, accused of killing his son, Logan, last week. Silva-Salas is charged with injury to a child with intent to cause serious bodily injury or serious mental deficiency.
  According to documents filed by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, the agency stepped in to in
  
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• Wisconsinites can’t spell ‘Wisconsin’ (and other states’ common misspelled words)

  31-05-2017 19:07 via kxan.com
  
  MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (WFLA) — If you’ve ever wondered what the most misspelled word in your state is, Google has the answer for you.
  On Tuesday, Google Trends tweeted a map showing “America’s Most Misspelled Words.” The company says it based its findings off the top “how to spell” searches by state. The data was collected from Jan. 1 through April 30.
  One of the most interesting finds is the word people in Wisconsin searched how to spell the most, which
  
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• Want to own an entire town called ‘Aladdin?’

  31-05-2017 18:43 via kxan.com
  
  ALADDIN, Wyoming (KNBN) — In the state of Wyoming lies a small historic town called Aladdin, and you don’t even need to catch a ride on a magic carpet to get there.
  Aladdin has a population of 15 people, and for the first time in history, it’s up for sale. Nearly the entire town is part of an auction selling to the highest bidder.
  Martin Jurisch, the auctioneer and real estate broker, said virtually all the commercial type property is for sale.
  That includes the 125-year-old Al
  
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• NASA spacecraft will aim straight for sun next year

  31-05-2017 18:27 via kxan.com
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A NASA spacecraft will aim straight for the sun next year and bear the name of the astrophysicist who predicted the existence of the solar wind nearly 60 years ago.
  The space agency announced Wednesday that the red-hot mission would be named after Eugene Parker, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago. It’s the first NASA spacecraft to be named after a researcher who is still alive, noted the agency’s science mission chief, Thomas Zurbuchen.
  
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• Disney employee accused of impersonating FBI agent in Orlando

  31-05-2017 18:21 via kxan.com
  
  ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – A Walt Disney World employee is accused of impersonating an FBI agent while stopping a woman on a Florida road.
  Orlando television station WKMG reports an Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded when he saw 26-year-old Brett Michael Smith pull over the woman near SeaWorld’s Aquatica water park on Saturday.
  The woman didn’t initially stop after hitting an orange traffic cone when she realized the Aquatica parking lot was full.
  An arrest report
  
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• European Commission leader blasts Trump on climate plans

  31-05-2017 17:20 via kxan.com
  
  BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission president on Wednesday said that it was the “duty of Europe” to stand up to the U.S. if President Donald Trump decides to pull his country out of the Paris climate change accord.
  Jean-Claude Juncker said that “the Americans can’t just get out of the agreement,” adding that “it takes three to four years” to pull out.
  Juncker went on to say that the Group of Seven leaders “tried to explain this in clear s
  
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• EU official: EU, China to reaffirm support for climate pact

  31-05-2017 17:20 via kxan.com
  
  BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union and China will reaffirm their commitment to the Paris climate change accord this week regardless of whether U.S. President Donald Trump pulls out of the pact, a senior EU official said Wednesday.
  The official told reporters that the EU and China will also “spell out” how they plan to meet their commitments to the landmark international accord to fight global warming at talks in Brussels on Friday.
  The official is involved in preparing the meet
  
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• Man caught on camera breaking into same vehicle twice in 20 minutes

  31-05-2017 16:55 via kxan.com
  
  PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) — A man is believed to have double dipped in April when police said he was caught on surveillance camera entering a vehicle that wasn’t his.
  The incident happened on April 22 in the 1200 block of Laurelleaf Drive. Police said the man entered the vehicle around 7:56 p.m. and was seen rummaging around, taking items.
  He then returned 20 minutes later and took additional items, police said.
  The man, for who police did not give description information, was drivi
  
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• NBC’s Megyn Kelly newsmagazine features Putin in debut

  31-05-2017 16:46 via kxan.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP/KXAN) – Megyn Kelly’s debut on NBC News this weekend is a real-life cliffhanger involving Russian President Vladimir Putin.
  Kelly is in Russia to question Putin onstage Friday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. She’d love a one-on-one exclusive interview that would be featured on the first episode of NBC’s Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly, but it’s not clear if that will happen.
  “When I sit down with Mr. Putin … it will be a l
  
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• 7-Eleven robbery suspect sought in Pflugerville

  31-05-2017 16:29 via kxan.com
  
  PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) — Pflugerville police need your help to pinpoint the whereabouts of a man suspected of robbing a 7-Eleven convenience store at gunpoint on May 25.
  According to police, the robbery occurred at 11:03 p.m. at the store located at 17511 Shultz Ln. The man allegedly walked in and showed his weapon then demanded money.
  The white male, between 5’6″ and 5’9″ tall, entered the store from the south and then ran north after getting what he came for.
  
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• Baby’s casket found floating upside down in water-filled grave

  31-05-2017 15:56 via kxan.com
  
  MEMPHIS, TN (NBC News) After burying his 6-month-old grandson less than two weeks ago, a Memphis, Tennessee man went to the cemetery to put flowers on the grave and discovered something disturbing.
  Tony Jones arrived at New Park Cemetery to see his grandson’s coffin out of the ground, upside down, and floating in a water-filled grave.
  Jones’ grandson, Ashton Mackey, was buried a week and a half ago after the child died from cerebral palsy.
  “It just brought back all those feelin
  
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• Mayor: Cypress Creek Cafe fire could make people leave Wimberley

  31-05-2017 14:55 via kxan.com
  
  WIMBERLEY, Texas (KXAN) — While many in Wimberley rally behind the owners of the Cypress Creek Cafe, others worry about the impact the fire that destroyed the business will have on a town they feel already has a fragile psyche.
  Mayor Mac McCullough fears the deeper lasting impact of this fire could be the discouragement of families that are still rebuilding their lives and homes after the fatal 2015 Memorial Day floods.
  “They’re still trying to decide, some of them are, rather
  
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• Governor to sign 4 bills reforming CPS into law Wednesday

  31-05-2017 14:24 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Governor Greg Abbott is hoping four new bills will help end the crisis with Child Protective Services.
  “House Bills 4, 5 and 7 and Senate Bill 11 “will provide meaningful reform to the state’s child welfare system,” the Governor’s Office said in a release announcing the 10 a.m. signing session.
  Details of the bills, according to the Texas Tribune:
  HB 4: Aims to lower financial barriers to kinship care, which places children with relatives
  
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• Governor signs 4 bills reforming CPS into law Wednesday

  31-05-2017 14:24 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Governor Greg Abbott is hoping four new bills will help end the crisis with Child Protective Services.
  “House Bills 4, 5 and 7 and Senate Bill 11 “will provide meaningful reform to the state’s child welfare system,” the Governor’s Office said in a release announcing the 10 a.m. signing session.
  Details of the bills, according to the Texas Tribune:
  HB 4: Aims to lower financial barriers to kinship care, which places children with relatives
  
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• Water main break on Bull Creek at 45th closes lanes

  31-05-2017 13:58 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — People in the area of Bull Creek Road at 45th Street should still have water after a morning water main break, but drivers are going to possibly see some delays.
  The break on a 36 inch water main was noticed around 5:39 a.m. but is believed to have happened sometime overnight.
  Austin Water said no one should see any problems with their water due to rerouting.
  Both 45th Street and Bull Creek Road have been reduced to one lane in either direction. Delays could be present thro
  
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• FAA says United flew unsafe plane 23 times before inspection

  31-05-2017 13:42 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration is seeking a $435,000 penalty against United Airlines, saying the carrier failed to inspect a repair job before putting a plane back into service.
  The FAA said Tuesday that United mechanics replaced a fuel pump pressure switch on a Boeing 787 in 2014, and the plane was used on 23 flights before the required inspection was performed. The FAA said United used the plane on two flights after being told the inspection had been skipped.
  Unite
  
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• Social media rushes to define Trump’s ‘covfefe’ tweet

  31-05-2017 13:06 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A midnight tweet from President Donald Trump has social media trying to find a meaning in the mysterious term “covfefe.”
  Trump tweeted just after midnight on Wednesday: “Despite the constant negative press covfefe.”
  The tweet immediately went viral and became one of the president’s more popular posts before it was taken down after nearly six hours online. Trump poked fun at the typo, tweeting around 6 a.m., “Who can figure out the true
  
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• Austin High School student, leukemia survivor, hosts bone marrow drive

  31-05-2017 12:46 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A senior at Austin High School was not supposed to make it as far as he has. Diagnosed with a rare leukemia on his third day of sixth grade, it was not believed he would make it past the first month of treatment.
  Today, RyanCole Weldon-Carroll is alive and has decided to give back to give others a life-changing gift, especially his classmate Faith.
  Weldon-Carroll and DKMS, an organization that helps with bone marrow transplants, teamed up to throw a bone marrow drive Wednes
  
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• Man in his 20s critically injured, possibly ejected in south Austin crash

  31-05-2017 06:14 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man in his 20s was taken to South Austin Medical Center with critical, life-threatening injuries after possibly being ejected from a vehicle during a crash, according to Austin-Travis County EMS.
  Medics were called to the 800 block of E. William Cannon Blvd., just west of Interstate 35, at 9:17 p.m.
  Austin police say William Cannon is closed in both directions near the scene of the crash as they investigate the collision.
  KXAN will update this page as we get additional in
  
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• Dan Patrick: Property tax relief, ‘bathroom bill’ could be up to voters

  31-05-2017 05:21 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Gov. Greg Abbott will sign CPS changes into law Tuesday. It comes as a new federal report showed there were mistakes in almost half of the child abuse investigations it studied.
  With Texas lawmakers failing to finish their work during the legislation session, Gov. Abbott is expected to call everyone back to work soon.
  The leader of the Texas Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, says his key issues like property tax relief and the so-called bathroom bill could be up to voters.
  When
  
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• Austin transgender drag queen raped, attacked by man wielding hammer

  31-05-2017 05:01 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — An icon on the drag queen stage in Austin says she was attacked Sunday by a man who used a hammer to beat her, after she says he raped her at her south Austin home.
  “Just because you’re turned down by a transsexual woman, does not give you reason to beat her in the back of the head with a hammer,” said Christi Long, a transgender woman who performs as a drag queen known as Christi Foxx Paris.
  Long says on Sunday her attacker — a man she thought was a
  
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• Austin transgender drag queen attacked by man wielding hammer

  31-05-2017 05:01 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — An icon on the drag queen stage in Austin says she was attacked Sunday by a man who used a hammer to beat her, after she says he raped her at her south Austin home.
  “Just because you’re turned down by a transsexual woman, does not give you reason to beat her in the back of the head with a hammer,” said Christi Long, a transgender woman who performs as a drag queen known as Christi Foxx Paris.
  Long says on Sunday her attacker — a man she thought was a
  
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• 3 fathers in jail: Advocates say CPS-related violent crimes are preventable

  31-05-2017 04:44 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Three Austin-area fathers are in jail, all accused of violently hurting their children. Raymundo Silva-Salas is accused of shaking his 2-year-old to the point of causing his death.
  Dilon Nelson is accused of dropping his 8-week-old baby while drunk. And Alejandro Gonzalez is accused of hitting his 2-year-old son, who has cerebral palsy. Experts in the child welfare field say this can all be prevented.
  “Ultimately, we’re just not putting the d
  
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• Three killed in shooting at car dealership near Dallas

  31-05-2017 03:58 via kxan.com
  
  GREENVILLE, Texas (KXAN) — Three people are confirmed dead in a shooting at a Nissan dealership northeast of Dallas.
  NBCDFW reports the shooting happened just after 3 p.m. Tuesday at the dealership on Interstate 30 near Joe Ramsey Boulevard in Greenville.
  Deputies and Greenville police officers are at the scene of the shooting.
  Follow NBCDFW.com for updates. Three people dead after shooting at Nissan dealership in Greenville, Hunt County. Does NOT appear to be workplace shooting. pic.
  
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• Federal report shows more cracks in Texas foster care system

  31-05-2017 03:40 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (NEXSTAR) — A new federal report shows more lapses in the state’s foster care system.
  The audit by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Tuesday also indicates Child Protective Services (CPS) potentially put foster kids at risk by failing to meet deadlines when investigating reports of abuse and neglect.
  “You got this big old state and it just seems like we can’t get a handle on it,” said Rep. James White, R-Hillister.
  Out
  
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• Campaign started to take down landmark Sam Houston statue in Houston

  31-05-2017 03:06 via kxan.com
  
  HOUSTON (KPRC) — The Sam Houston statue has been at Houston’s Hermann Park since 1925, but a group that calls itself Texas Antifa has started a campaign to take down this and any other landmark that bears the name Sam Houston.
  The statue has been a site to see for nearly a century and for some people, it’s a site they want to see for years to come.
  On Thursday, the group posted on its Facebook page saying, “Texans agree the disgusting idols of America’s dark days of
  
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• Brotherly competition pushes twins to graduate on top

  31-05-2017 01:52 via kxan.com
  
  ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — Families across Texas are getting ready to cheer on graduates getting high school diplomas this weekend.
  A family in Round Rock will be cheering twice as loudly Friday when twin brothers Ethan and Morgan Santoni-Colvin cross the stage as valedictorian and salutatorian of Stony Point High School’s graduating class, after years of neck-and-neck grade point averages.
  “It’s probably been that way for a steady four semesters or so now — so
  
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• Travis High seniors make a special trip back to elementary school

  31-05-2017 01:22 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Soon-to-be-graduates of Austin’s Travis High School donned their caps and gowns early in an effort to encourage young minds to commit to their education.
  On Tuesday, the seniors visited their former elementary schools and walked the halls to inspire students to reach their goals. It’s a tradition that even the seniors remember.
  “I remember looking up to the older kids and being like, ‘that’s going to be me one day, but it’s so far away,'&
  
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• Girl Scout kayakers from Dallas rescued after going missing overnight

  31-05-2017 01:14 via kxan.com
  
  NATCHITOCHES PARISH, La. (KTAL) — A Girl Scout group from Dallas learned first-hand about Louisiana first responders when they were rescued when their nine kayaks met up with a strong thunderstorm Sunday night.
  The group of six juveniles and three adults planned for a peaceful float down Sabine Bayou to Cloud Crossing Campground in Natchitoches Parish Sunday evening. Instead, after leaving from the Louisiana Highway 126 boat launch on the Winn and Natchitoches Parish, they got a ride they&
  
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• Police: Boy films father abusing 2-year-old brother who has cerebral palsy

  31-05-2017 00:31 via kxan.com
  
  LEANDER, Texas (KXAN) — A father is accused of violently shaking and hitting his 2-year-old son in Leander. The allegations came to light after the toddler’s older brother took video of the alleged abuse and reported the incident to his middle school.
  The father, Alejandro Gonzalez, 48, is charged with injury to a child, a third-degree felony.
  On May 23, deputies were called to Wiley Middle School for a child abuse outcry from a student. A deputy met with a sixth-grade student who sa
  
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• Drunk dad drops newborn, hides baby’s injuries, Leander police say

  31-05-2017 00:28 via kxan.com
  
  LEANDER, Texas (KXAN) — A Leander father who police say dropped his newborn daughter due to being intoxicated and then hiding her injuries from the child’s mother is in jail charged with injury to a child.
  According to an arrest affidavit, 23-year-old Dilan Nelson says he was watching his 8-week-old baby girl on April 5 while his wife was at a job interview. Nelson told police he wanted to “get faded” so he proceeded to drink whiskey and “smoked
  
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